Posts Tagged ‘First Class#8217;

Seven months ago I was about to begin the third (and final) semester of my master’s in Market Research & Consumer Behavior. I was full of anticipation. Not only for what this last semester would bring, but about what would happen after the master’s. Where will I go? Who I will be working for? What will I be doing? Will I be happy? At times, I had so many questions bouncing around in my head it was hard to stay focused.

Being new to this industry and using the master’s as a first step in shifting my career, I found it challenging to demonstrate I had the right skills and knowledge to perform the jobs I was applying for. Many companies probably overlooked my resume as I did not have that one thing they look for, experience. Of course I had 4+ years of great work experience, but not in the areas I was currently applying for. I kept thinking if I could get a hiring manager on the phone or send her an email, she would understand how well the MRCB master’s had prepared me to go from the classroom to the office. On those occasions, I took every opportunity to share ample examples of working through business challenges with real clients from research phase to results presentation phase, applying learnings to critically evaluate research, developing research proposals, and learning from amazing professors that came from companies, such as Kantar Media, P&G, Millward Brown, Nielsen, and Google.

One day as I was discussing my plans to return to Boston with my professor, he mentioned that his company, Kantar Media, owns a market research agency in Boston. He offered to put me in touch. I immediately started preparing for the phone call with Human Resources that I hoped would come, and it did. For some reason this interview felt different. If I could demonstrate to this woman through my experiences during the MRCB program that it was worth putting me in contact with the hiring manager, I was that much closer to landing a job. What resulted was a great conversation about MRCB and many of the courses I had taken over the past months. Needless to say, she was quite impressed with the level of depth and quality of the courses that I had received. As we finished up the call, she was already talking about next steps…an interview with the hiring manager!

A couple days later I was on a Skype call with the hiring manager learning all about Millward Brown Digital and laughing about search marketing acronyms. I had to pause after that call and reflect on when I started my master’s I would never have been able to speak to that level about topics, like search marketing and consumer psychology. This only served to reassure me that the master’s had truly prepared me for life after MRCB. To be a professional who can go into the working world and start contributing immediately. The next step in the hiring process was to meet the rest of the team and deliver a presentation based on client data. Those next few days proved stressful as I poured every free minute I had into perfecting this presentation. I kept reminding myself to be confident and trust in what I was doing. The minute the interview/presentation started (again on Skype) I could see the faces of my soon-to-be co-workers smiling and nodding. When we began to chat more, they asked me in detail about my experience with the MRCB master’s. As I was talking through the different courses and real-life business challenges we had gone through, they were fascinated. I still remember one co-worker who mentioned, “Outside of this interview, I would make sure you list ALL of that experience on your resume. I never would have known the extensiveness of your master’s – sounds like a great program.” I thought to myself, finally, I was able to transmit what I had learned and how well equipped I was to become a professional in market research. The day of graduation, I received the exciting news; Millward Brown Digital was offering me a job in Boston!

On my first day of work, just three months ago, I expected to feel nervous. I was going to an office, meeting my boss and co-workers in-person, and was now “on my own.” However, I found myself more excited to be in this new environment and see what I would be able to accomplish. During those first few weeks, I met with many people to learn about client relationships, our online consumer panel, how we manage our data, and what the goals and strategy of the company are. At each meeting, I felt things clicking together. I kept hearing familiar words and phrases, as I was encouraged to dig deeper into areas I had questions. It is hard to put into words, but I could clearly see direct correlations between my master’s and what I was now learning in this company.

Today, I continue to learn. Every day I discover something new about search marketing and spend time on a wealth of sites devoted to the topic (one of our main performance goals is to educate ourselves on the industry). Who knew that search marketing had so many nuances? I continue to have moments where I think: I took a class in SPSS and I am comfortable with this output or I can apply what I learned about survey writing to help with this or looking at our data I know what the sample size must be to be reportable. At times, I find myself saying numerous times a day “oh I learned that in my master’s.”

As I have said before, it is truly hard to explain how the learnings in the classroom have so easily translated into my work life. They appear to be seamlessly intertwined. I have found I am less nervous when making decisions at work or trying to analyze something different. I continue every day to push myself to look at things differently, as our professors always encouraged us to do. The MRCB program prepared me for real life, one where you have to deal with ambiguities and not having all the information all the time. The few things that I have learned from my time here at Millward Brown Digital are: understand what your client’s objectives are, explore the best ways to answer those objectives, follow the data, and weave together a meaningful story. I have learned you will never have all the answers, but I do believe I could not have asked for a better program to prepare me for this career.

We are almost halfway into the second term of the master, but it seems just like yesterday when we arrived in Madrid, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not that we are now devoid of zest and optimism. In fact, the pace and quality of the program last term now has us craving for bigger challenges and a greater desire to learn from the best from best.

So how does the program measure up so far? IE prides itself for the diversity in campus, which makes up a highly multi-cultural community. In our class alone, there are 33 students from 22 countries. But what’s more impressive is that we all get along with each other. Diversity also comes in the form of experience: we have a classmate who flew in a few days after college graduation, another who already has an MBA degree, a few who have no work experience and others who have been working for more than seven years. Even the professors we have had are from different backgrounds and industries. We have had a mix of full-time faculty, professionals currently holding executive positions in multinational firms and entrepreneurs who have shared with us a wealth of information, not just in theory but also from their professional experiences. Lastly, entrepreneurship and innovation are constantly encouraged in all the things we do.

When IE said to expect a fast-paced and intense program, they really weren’t kidding. No time is wasted as soon as the pleasantries during the first sessions are done. Readings, case studies, group projects, individual assignments and tests, quickly fill up the agenda (which also tries to squeeze in attending seminars, networking over tapas & cañas, watching football, and of course, immersing in Madrid’s nocturnal culture).

Teamwork and healthy competition are fostered through the groups assigned at the start of the term. With the level of diversity in the class, each group had to overcome the cultural differences and make them work to their advantage. Also, due to the amount of time spent with our teammates, we practically treated each other like family (imagine the separation anxiety that resulted at the end of the term).

Overall, for a program on its initial run, it lives up to its expectations. Pride is felt for being part of the pioneer batch, of a program offered nowhere else in the world.

IE School of Social and Behavioral Science is very proud to present the very first Master in Market Research & Consumer Behavior Class ´13! We brought the most talented people from all over the world to become the next leaders in market research and consumer behavior, an industry that is rapidly growing and is already making a big impact in companies and consumers´ lives. This group of students come from different backgrounds such as psychology, marketing, economics, political science, advertising, communications, sociology and math, bringing their knowledge to the classroom for a wholsome enriching experience- all with the purpose of becoming consumer and market experts!

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